Warehouses typically use pallets, flat transport structures, to support goods in a stable fashion. A pallet is often a wooded platform having a horizontal plate made of spaced boards. Special machinery is required to lift and move pallets. Such machinery (e.g., a fork-lift truck, a pallet truck) may comprise a fork having a pair of long arms that can be raised and lowered, wheels, and a means of propelling the machinery for carrying the pallet to another location. A pallet truck is designed for a user to walk behind the machinery, whereas a fork-lift truck is designed for the user to sit on the machinery. The present invention features a power device for pallet trucks.
It is believed that the power device of the present invention may reduce the effort required to move a pallet truck. Without wishing to limit the present invention to any theory or mechanism, it is believed that the power device of the present invention is advantageous because it can help to reduce the effort required to move a pallet truck. Using conventional means, a user must pull a pallet truck from a dead stop. Using the present invention, a user does not have to pull the pallet truck from a dead stop because the present invention provides power to the front wheel of the pallet truck. In addition, the device of the present invention can help reduce the speed of the pallet truck once in motion.
Any feature or combination of features described herein are included within the scope of the present invention provided that the features included in any such combination are not mutually inconsistent as will be apparent from the context, this specification, and the knowledge of one of ordinary skill in the art. Additional advantages and aspects of the present invention are apparent in the following detailed description and claims.